Scholarship in honor of KHS student awarded for the first time

JENNIFER SUMMER

Published
12:15 pm CDT, Friday, May 25, 2012

Local high school senior, Austin Tomlinson, center; with Max’s mom, Katie Keevill, left was announced as the winner of the first Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship recipient May 20. Keevill was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 15, 2011 on his way to boy scout camp so friends and family set up a scholarship in his honor.

Local high school senior, Austin Tomlinson, center; with Max’s mom, Katie Keevill, left was announced as the winner of the first Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship recipient May 20. Keevill was killed in

Local high school senior, Austin Tomlinson, center; with Max’s mom, Katie Keevill, left was announced as the winner of the first Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship recipient May 20. Keevill was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 15, 2011 on his way to boy scout camp so friends and family set up a scholarship in his honor.

Local high school senior, Austin Tomlinson, center; with Max’s mom, Katie Keevill, left was announced as the winner of the first Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship recipient May 20. Keevill was killed in

The white cross almost leans against the electric pole in front of the white picket fence lining a piece of property on Ford Road in Porter.

The cross is covered in trinkets, drawings and of course anything purple, Kingwood High School student Maximilian Keevill’s favorite color.

On his way to boy scout camp, Max, as his friends and family called him, was killed in an automobile accident Jan. 15, 2011.

His memory continues to live on through an annual event in the community, Max Fest, but also through a scholarship set up in his name which was recently awarded to a local student for the first time.

“It is an honor to have a scholarship in Max’s name and for his legacy to live on. The scholarship shows something good can come from something that is bad and this is what Max would have wanted,” Katie Keevill, Max’s mother, said.

Katie met with the scholarship winner, Austin Tomlinson, to present the $5,000 and take several photos as mementos May 20.

It was one of Max’s good friends, Nigel, who suggested a scholarship be set up in honor of Max through the Kingwood High School National Honor Society.

He set up appointments with Chase Bank and NHS sponsors and the Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship Fund was developed and approved.

“Nigel had everything laid out and organized to make the scholarship a reality. I was blown away by all of Max’s friends’ dedication and how much of an impact he had,” Katie said to the Observer in an article a month after Max’s death.

“The scholarship will be awarded to a student who has a high GPA, is focused on community service and the environment, and is possibly going into a science or political field, which were Max’s interests. The scholarship fund was a great way for people to reach out to us after the funeral since we did not want flowers and it is in honor of Max.”

To be considered for the Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship, the student must be a high school senior with a minimum GPA of 4.0, actively involved in the community and environmentally and politically aware.

The scholarship was set up with Max’s interests in mind since he was always working on different community involvement project including the work he had started right before his death on his Boy Scout Eagle Project to design and build a book shelf then hosting a book drive to fill the shelves which would then all be donated to the Texas Children’s Hospital Intensive Care Unit.

“Tomlinson was a great pick to be the first to receive the first Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship; we were very excited to have the opportunity to award him the scholarship which will help him follow his dreams,” Katie added.

In addition to the scholarship, plans are underway for the second annual Max Fest Aug. 25 which will feature live music, vendors and activities for the whole family.

The proceeds from the event will benefit the Maximilian Keevill Memorial Scholarship Fund.